Series: Still Unfinished — Champions Rising in the Midst of Pain

There comes a moment in every journey of grief when you realize that standing up again feels harder than falling. Loss has a way of draining strength, silencing dreams, and convincing you that life as you knew it is forever gone. When David passed away into glory in 2024 December, I felt as if the ground beneath me had vanished. Everything familiar suddenly became uncertain. Every morning felt like a mountain, and every night felt like a valley of tears.

For a long time, I wondered if joy would ever return, or if life would always feel hollow. People encouraged me to “be strong,” but they could not see the exhaustion inside. To rise again felt impossible—like asking a bird with broken wings to soar.

But God began to teach me something sacred:
Restoration does not begin with strength— it begins with surrender.
Rising again is not a single moment; it is a series of small yeses to God in the dark.

I remember one morning when grief felt suffocating. I sat alone with my Bible, tears falling on the pages. I opened to Joel 2:25:

“I will restore to you the years the locust has eaten.”

Those words felt like water on dry ground.
God did not promise I would forget.
He did not promise life would look the same again.
But He promised restoration.

Restoration does not mean returning to what was lost,
but receiving something new that carries eternal value.

In the months following David’s homegoing, God began rebuilding my life in ways I never expected. He opened new ministry opportunities, deepened family relationships, and ignited fresh purpose. Strength slowly returned—not because the pain disappeared, but because God walked with me through it.

I learned:
You rise not when the pain ends, but when you choose to hope again.
You rise not when you feel ready, but when you take one step in faith.
You rise because God carries you where your legs cannot.

Psalm 147:3 says,
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
God does not rush healing. He restores piece by piece, breath by breath, day by day.

And somewhere in the journey, grief transforms.
Tears become worship.
Pain becomes compassion.
Loss becomes testimony.

Today, I can say with conviction:
The enemy tried to bury me, but God planted me.
What looked like the end became the beginning of a new chapter marked by deeper anointing, greater resilience, and unshakeable faith.

Scriptural Strength

Isaiah 61:3 — Beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, praise for despair.
Micah 7:8 — Though I fall, I will rise. The Lord will be my light.
Psalm 30:5 — Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

Life Lessons

• Rising again begins with believing God is not finished with your story.
  
• Restoration is not replacement—it is divine transformation.
  
• The hardest battles produce the strongest warriors.
  
• Hope is a weapon in spiritual warfare.
  

Reflection Questions

What step toward rising again is God asking you to take today?
How have you seen God rebuild strength within you already?
Are you willing to believe that restoration is possible?

Prayer

Lord, lift me where I feel weak. Heal what is broken within me. Restore what was lost and renew what was damaged. Teach me to rise again with Your strength and to trust Your plan even when I cannot see it. Turn my mourning into dancing and my sorrow into testimony. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Final Declaration

I will rise again—not by my strength, but by His power.
My story is still unfinished. ✨

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